Archbishop Justin speaks of ‘huge privilege’ of job

Archbishop Justin spoke of the ‘huge privilege’ of being Archbishop of Canterbury in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme last week, saying that it had drawn him ‘closer to God’.

Archbishop Justin was interviewed by Edward Stourton during the 10th World Council of Churches Assembly in Busan, where an ‘extraordinary range of church groups’ had come together ‘to understand each other’ and to share ‘some very interesting ideas about how the Church is engaging with issues’.

Asked whether he was enjoying being Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin responded: ‘It’s a huge, huge privilege to be in this role and I do enjoy it. . . Most of the time [it] is just one fascinating and wonderful thing after another; and I’ve met the most brilliant people and I’ve just found it spiritually stimulating and it’s drawn me closer to God; and I just consider myself enormously privileged to have the role.’

During the interview, Archbishop Justin praised the ‘phenomenal work’ of the steering group charged with preparing draft legislation to enable women to become bishops. The fact that the group’s members had ‘largely come together to recommend something is a cause of considerable hope’, he said. The voice of those who believe that women should be bishops had been heard ‘very clearly’, and ‘the process itself was a much more conciliatory and facilitated one than perhaps has been in the past’.